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February 14 , 2025
Heavy Rains Prompt Evacuation Warnings in LA Fire Areas
Los Angeles, CA: Evacuation warnings have been issued in parts of Los Angeles County ravaged by deadly wildfires last month, as Southern California’s most significant storm in more than a year stokes fears of life-threatening debris flows and a high risk of mudslides.
It’s just one of three winter storms this week brought about by a hyperactive weather pattern that’s been slamming the US with snow, ice, and rain since the start of the month – another storm is currently hitting the Plains and Midwest with heavy snow.
In addition to the evacuation warnings across Southern California, preparations aimed at preventing debris flow disaster are underway before the worst conditions from California’s storm arrive Thursday.
High risk for debris flows in California
The upcoming storm will be the “most significant” so far this winter in Southern California and will bring “very intense” rainfall, warned Ariel Cohen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Los Angeles.
Some rain will impact Southern California Wednesday but it will be much lighter in nature than what’s to come Thursday.
Portions of California’s Los Angeles and Ventura counties — including areas burned by the Palisades and Eaton fires — are under a Level 3 of 4 risk of flooding rainfall Thursday, according to the Weather Prediction Center. More than 36 million in the rest of the state are under a level 2 of 4 risk of flooding rainfall Thursday. The threat area encompasses San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego, and areas in between.
In Los Angeles County, the evacuation warnings will be in effect Thursday morning until Friday afternoon, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said in an update Wednesday.
This includes residents living near the remnants of the deadly Palisades Fire, as well as the Sunset and Hurst Fires, according to fire officials.
In Orange County, voluntary evacuations will be issued Thursday morning for several canyon areas near the Airport Fire burn scar, according to a Wednesday news release. Tuesday, Santa Barbara County residents in “areas within and near the Lake Fire burn scar” were placed under an evacuation warning, the sheriff’s office said.
Meanwhile, a number of communities in San Bernardino County are under evacuation warnings , according to the sheriff’s office.
Residents in the communities of Highland, Wrightwood and Mt Baldy should be prepared for flooding and mudslides, a county spokesperson, David Wert, told CNN Wednesday. “We have sent phone and text messages to all residents living downstream of the Line and Bridge fire burn scars,” Wert added.
The threat to the burn scar areas comes as officials are tackling the effort to remove hazardous debris left behind by the fires. Los Angeles County recently bolstered storm preparations by cleaning debris basins, installing concrete barriers, and placing sandbags in fire zones to filter debris and protect storm drains.
Officials have been notifying residents in Altadena and Malibu Hills that they may be impacted by mud or debris flows, according to Luna. Search and rescue teams, deputies and helicopter crews are also on standby to respond to the storm in burn areas.
More than 7,500 feet of concrete barriers and more than 6,500 sandbags have been deployed to areas burned in the Palisades Fire in case of debris flows, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced Tuesday. Similar protections for the Eaton Fire burn scar were ongoing, according to California’s Office of Emergency Services.
Thursday’s flood risk will not be confined to areas scorched by wildfires.
“Even outside of the burn scars, we’re looking at the potential for some pretty significant urban area flooding,” Cohen warned.
This storm will dump 1 to 3 inches of rain over the Los Angeles basin and totals could approach 6 inches in the area’s mountains — including the burn scar of the Palisades Fire. This is the most rain in the area from a storm since last year’s extensive flooding and mudslides in and around Los Angeles.
“Of course, we’re concerned about the Palisades and the burned areas, but this is for all of Los Angeles to be concerned about the rain and the impacts,” Bass implored.
The heaviest bursts of rain from Thursday afternoon into early Friday morning could also be accompanied by damaging wind gusts. These winds will be capable of downing trees and power lines and blowing around debris.
Snow and ice pounding Central, Eastern states
Another disruptive winter storm is underway in the eastern half of the US. Snow from a new storm that formed overnight in the Plains stretched from there to the Midwest on Wednesday afternoon while a storm that first slammed the east Tuesday was still bringing rain and ice to parts of the region.
Wednesday’s storm will bring Chicago its most substantial snowfall so far this winter. By Wednesday evening, 1 to 3 inches had fallen across the city, making for a slick evening commute. Up to 6 inches is possible by the time the snow ends overnight. The typically snowy city should record 2 feet of snow by this point in the season but has barely picked up 7 inches since December. Double-digit snowfall is possible north of the city, near the Illinois-Wisconsin border.
Schools in the Chicago area closed or shifted to online learning Wednesday in response to the storm. Public schools in Kansas City, Missouri, and several districts in Nebraska also closed.
In Iowa, more than 100 vehicle accidents were reported and about 185 drivers needed assistance due to the weather conditions, and there were nearly 300 calls for service, according to Iowa State Police.
Winter weather also disrupted air travel on Wednesday. More than 1,000 flights into and out of US airports were canceled by the evening, while more than 6,000 experienced delays, according to FlightAware.com. The most impacted airport operations were in Chicago, St Louis and Washington, DC.
Snow will reach parts of the Northeast on Wednesday evening and last through much of Thursday. Ice will quickly start to mix in with the snow in parts of Pennsylvania and New York Wednesday evening and reach portions of New England overnight.
Ice will present a significant problem again just south of where the heaviest snow falls. At least a light glaze of ice — enough to make travel tricky — is possible anywhere from Oklahoma and Kansas through the Ohio Valley and Northeast through Thursday.
Parts of the Appalachians will get another round of ice from this storm. More than 1540,000 homes and businesses were without power in Virginia on Wednesday evening after ice from the first storm, according to PowerOutage.us.
Ice and more than a foot of snow wreaked havoc on travel in Virginia on Tuesday. There were at least 305 crashes reported statewide. Injuries were reported in at least 24 of those crashes by Tuesday evening, according to state police.
CNN’s Michelle Watson, Hanna Park and Stephanie Elam contributed to this report. CNN
Courtesy CNN
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